US 2008/0023900 A1 discloses a system for the laser cutting of sheet-like workpieces. In front of a laser cutting unit there is arranged a pallet changer having a support, onto which the cut sheets are fed after processing by cutting. On a cut sheet, finished parts in the form of workpiece blanks are surrounded by a workpiece remnant in the form of a scrap skeleton. By means of a handling device, the finished parts and the scrap skeleton of a processed sheet are together removed from the workpiece support of the pallet changer. For that purpose, the handling device has a gripping unit with two lifting forks that are movable in opposite directions on a carrier frame of the handling device. In order to take up a processed sheet, the handling device moves on a guide structure into a position above the support of the pallet changer. The lifting forks of the handling device, which have been moved into their open position, are then lowered to a level at which they are located beneath the workpiece that is to be taken up. After the lifting forks have been moved in opposite directions into their gripping position and consequently grip the processed workpiece on its underside, the lifting forks are raised together with the finished parts and the scrap skeleton of the processed sheet. The handling device with the finished parts positioned thereon and the scrap skeleton positioned thereon then moves laterally over a workpiece table. By lowering the lifting forks and then moving them into the open position, the processed sheet, with the finished parts and the scrap skeleton surrounding them, is deposited by the handling device on the workpiece table. The lifting forks of the handling device are then raised above the workpiece table again, and the handling device moves laterally back into the position above the support of the pallet changer. When the handling device has left the vicinity of the workpiece table, a gate-like frame structure moves over the workpiece table. The scrap skeleton deposited on the workpiece table is fixed to the frame structure spanning the workpiece table. The workpiece table is then lowered to a level beneath the scrap skeleton fixed to the frame structure. The lowering movement of the workpiece table is followed by the finished parts deposited on the workpiece table, which are thereby separated from the scrap skeleton fixed to the frame structure.
Improvements to such methods and systems are sought.